Anthony Joshua is scheduled to return to the ring in March, according to Eddie Hearn and one of his potential opponent could be former UFC star in Francis Ngannou.
Joshua had a spectacular comeback in 2023 after losing to Oleksandr Usyk twice in a row by going on to win three fights including a stoppage victory over Otto Wallin on the Day of Reckoning card in December.
A deal for AJ and Deontay Wilder to square off inside the ring had been signed prior to the American’s crushing defeat by Joseph Parker which was supposed to set up the much anticipated showdown between the two.
After the Wilder fight was canceled, Hearn discussed what Anthony Joshua would do next. He listed three possible opponents for a Saudi Arabian event, but he maintained that their primary goal is still to face the winner of Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk.
“At the moment, we are discussing three fights, all of which are quite large,” Hearn stated to iFL TV.
“And Deontay Wilder is not involved in it. Our goal which we have talked about is to face the victor of Fury vs Usyk before March. All we want to do is that”.
“Obviously, there is a fight between Francis Ngannou and [Filip] Hrgovic for the world heavyweight title, that fight would be absolutely enormous”.
The 31-year-old Hrgovic also fought on the Day of Reckoning card back in December, winning his first round victory over Australian Mark de Mori to increase his professional fight record to 17 wins without a loss.
Zhilei Zhang, an Olympic medallist as well, just had the greatest victory of his career in September when he soundly thrashed Joe Joyce in their rematch to stop the British player’s momentum.
In the meantime, Francis Ngannou is enjoying success in the professional boxing scene after making the switch from mixed martial arts to boxing, even if he lost in his debut match against Tyson Fury.
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